Pakistan Stock Exchange cautious trading, KSE-100 closes with slight decline

Karachi: Trading was cautious on Thursday, August 27, at the Pakistan Stock Exchange. At the end of the day, the benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 177,322.77 points after a slight decline of 47.93 points.

At the beginning of the trading day, the KSE-100 index was at 178,012.40 points. During the trading, the index reached a high of 178,650.01 points; however, later, due to selling pressure, the market could not maintain its initial improvement. During the day, the index also reached a low of 177,196.28 points.

Overall, more than 614 million shares were traded in the market. Share prices of 191 companies increased while shares of 279 companies decreased. Share prices of 98 companies remained stable.

The KMI-30 index, which represents Islamic and Sharia-compliant companies, was also under pressure. The index closed down 656.80 points at 250,923.13 points. The highest level of KMI-30 during the day was 253,434.85, while the lowest level was 250,693.81 points.

About 114.37 million shares were traded in KMI-30. The overall annual performance of the index remains positive; however, selling pressure was prominent in the market in today’s session.

In the KSE-100 index, HUBC, ENGROH, POL, UBL and FFC supported the market. On the other hand, declines in NBP, PPL, PSO, OGDC and SYS added pressure to the index.

ENGROH and HUBC were among the prominent positive stocks in KMI-30, while EFERT, FFC and SAZEW also supported the index. On the contrary, declines in PPL, PSO, OGDC, SYS and DGKC affected the overall performance of the market.

Overall, investors adopted a cautious attitude in today’s activity. The market did not witness a major rally or a sharp decline. The slight decline in KSE-100 indicates that investors are preferring to assess the future direction of the market rather than taking new positions. A small change in one day cannot be considered a definitive indicator of the long-term trend of the market.